Utility Index Is Keeping Up
With Rest of the Dow Joneses

By

Suzanne McGee Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 8, 1997 12:01 a.m. ET

Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been on a record-breaking tear during most of the 1990s, this is the first year since 1993 that the three Dow Jones averages -- the industrials, transports and utilities -- have all hit new highs.

The utility benchmark, which on Nov. 21 finally broke through its old peak set in September 1993, closed Friday at 258.89, up 11% in 1997, compared with 26% for the broader market. Although the...